Reel arbor lock



Dec. 159 1953 c. o. BRUr-:STLE

REEL. ARBOR LOCK Filed Dec;

3 Sheetsheet l PM@ @Mer Dec. 15, 17953 c. o. BRUESTLE REEL. ARBOR LOCKFiled Dec. 8, 1951 Dec- 15, 1953 c. o. BRUESTLE REEL. ARBOR LOCK 3Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 8, 1951 Ma 9PM@ areggenerally tragic.

Patented Dec. 15, 1953 UNITED STAT ES PAT E NT O FFI'CE4 REELARBOR LOCKCarl 0. Bruestle, Metuclien, N. J., assgnor to Syncro Machine Company,Perth Amboy, N I J., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 8,1951, SerialNo. 260,731.

1 Claim.

'Ihis invention relates to a mechanism for locking a reel of material ina strand handling machine.

In various kinds of operations involving Wire handling, either thewinding or twisting thereof; reels of wire must be assembled in a cradleand held in position whilerit. is fed 01T at therate demanded by theparticular operation being performed. In general, a strand or wirehandling machinel will include a cradle or cradlesy means forfeedingthewire'from reels heldin the cradles, guides, driving mechanism and adelivery capstan for taking thecompletedproduct. If the machine ,is ahigh-speed one, the problem of mounting. the wire reelrbecomes a difcultone, for

.thesafety of the r operator must be kept` paramount.

Where high-speed, stranding machines employ reels of Wire whichraremounted in cradles, lockingmechanismsfhave.been provided whichcorrespond approximately to a lsliding bolt which `is slippedacrossinto. an opening for the reel arbor. Where reliance must be placedupon a human operatortoperform arelatively complicated lockingoperation,failure is bound to occurrand, with i the high-speed machines, resultsIt isaccordingly a fundamental object of the instant invention toprovide alockinglstructurefor a `reel .which can be com- `pletelyoperated from one side of the machine and which has the furthervirtue of.being simple in its operation.

ItA is a second object ofthe inventionto pro- .v-idea reel yarbore-loci:combination for use with the cradle; of a stranding machine which willrevduce .the .locking operationto alsingle simple movement on the partofthe operator.

VOther objects andadvantages of the invention willin, partbe-.obviousand intvpart will appear hereinafter.

The inventionlis accordingly embodied in an arborlo'ck structureWhereinithe ends. of a stationary center arbor, which, used in carryingthe reel structure are llattened at faces which are perpendiculartoopposite ends of 1a diameter, the. flatfaces on each of 'thetwo vends ofthe .center arbor shaftbeing.V substantially aligned.'Thastructureffurther calls'for having a key slot formed in the centersupport for the reel, so that a reel carried by the centerl arborshaftmay have its. flattened endsalignedwith 'the opening of the Thus theinvention eomprisesa cradle carrying a reel supporting structure incombination with a center arbor shaft, the cradle` having formed thereinthe necessary'key-slot to receive the center arbor shaft, the structurehavingthe features of construction; combinations of elements andarrangements of parts hereinafter to be described in further detail.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a side elevatQnofa Ycradle showing a centersupport lcarrying alocking mechanism, a brake drum andLawire'reel;

Figure 2 is a sectional view ofV the cradle on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.showing the wire reel in position and the details'ofthe lockingmechanism by taking a horizontal section at they diameter of the Wirereel;

Figure 3 is a detailed view ofthe Tesection end of the center arborshaft, Athe section being taken at the face of the center supportof thecradle;

Figure 4 is a detailed side elevation of the opposite end of thecenterarbor shaft;

Figure 5 illustratesa variation'of the arbor and key-slot;

Figure 6 is a plan view yofja modied type of cradle and accompanyingarbor Vemploying the Jiueel lock in accordance withthelinstant invenlon;

Figure 7 is a sideviewl of fthe reel arbor lock of Fig. 6 showing theslottedikeyl opening and brakes for the reel;

Figure 8 is a plan vview zolthe arbor itself and, accompanying Figures 9and 1,0.are fendyievvs, respectively,. of the arbor shown in Figure 8.

Referring now toFigure .1, lrepresents the center support ofthe-cradleand Il `and I2 areIV side extensions thereof which areintegrallyY joined to the center support to provide means for mountingthe brake drum which comprises .a spring mounted beltl3'p1'l11f16dl'to.theextensions` at I4 and i5. The details .ofthebraking mechanism are essentially conventional, and constitute no partofthe instant invention.

In Figure 2, the remaining Adetails. of thestructure may be seenandthere. the oppositegend ofv the reel may be seen carried inthe centersupport l0.

In Figure 2, 20 representsuareel,which ina common case will be acoilofiwire, mountedon the arbor carrying an antifriction rotatingsleeve 2|. 'I'he whole structure is carriedby the stationarycenterarborfshaft 22through the *needle bearings 23 Yand 24. Inl assembly'.thel reel is slipped in place withltheY,adjacent brake drum I8 and itscollar 25 fastened to the rotating sleeve. The reel itself drives thebrake drum through pin 21. At the other end of the shaft collar 28 ismounted for adjusting the width of the reel to the length of the arbor.Washer 29 operates as a flange and is press fitted on the arbor toprevent lateral displacement of the arbor during operation of themachine.

The safety lock mechanism by which the rotating reel is held in placeconsists of the center support I having a key opening 30 formed therein,the opening being characterized by essentially a circular form in itsinnermost section, the approach in to the circular section beingstraightsided and of a width less than a diameter of the circularopening. In effect, the outline of the opening for the reception of thecenter arbor shaft then becomes approximately like that of a keyhole.

The center arbor shaft, to take advantage of the keyhole, has pinned onthe end thereof a T-piece 3i which has a cross-section at the plane ofcenter support Ill like that shown in Figure 3 and is definable asessentially circular with a pair of diametrically opposed flat sectionsthereon. The T-piece is formed to t the key opening in the centersupport, the distance between the flat portions on the T-piece beingsuch that it will t between the flats of the key opening on the centersupport. Correspondingly, the circular section of the T-piece is of adiameter matching the diameter of the circular portion of the keyopening. At one side of the T-piece there is formed an opening 32 forthe entry of locking pin 33 which is Spring mounted by means of tensionmember 34 at 35 on the center support.

As shown in Figure 4, at the opposite end of the center arbor shaft, itcarries a collar 31 pinned thereto which is flattened at pointscorresponding to the flats on the T-piece. Similarly, the key openingfor receiving the center arbor shaft at this end of the cradle is thatof a lock having a narrowed entrance which enlarges to a circle matchingthe diameter of the end collar on the center arbor shaft.

It will be evident from a consideration of Figures 3 and 4 that the sameeffect may be achieved by flattening the arbor shaft at one side, or byusing a curved approach to the opening as shown in Figure 5, wherein 40represents a shaft with only a single flat area to enter the narrowedopening 4l.

The assembly of the apparatus and locking of a reel in place isrelatively simple, for the two correspondingly oriented key openingsforming the lock in the two ends of the center support are oriented inthe same Way. The center arbor shaft having correspondingly orientedflats on each end and carrying the antifriction mounted rotating sleeve,is slipped through a reel and the whole is lowered into place. Thecenter arbor shaft is oriented so that the fiat faces at either endthereof slide through the narrow approaches of the lock openings at eachcenter support and, when the center arbor shaft touches the bottom ofthe lock opening at each end, it is turned 90 whereupon it becomeslocked in position, for the full diameter of the shaft then faces thenarrow approach into the lock opening. The T-piece is locked in place bypermitting the spring mounted pin 33 to slide into the hole 32 in thecross-piece of the T.

When assembled, it will be seen, with the reel .effectively locked inplace, that high speed operation can follow and the relatively lightlocking mechanism is adequate to hold the reel safely in place, for tocause the reel to be displaced from its support, it would be necessaryfor the diameter of the center arbor shaft to shear out a section ofmetal corresponding to that intercepted by the full section of thecircular part of the T- piece. The reel arbor is locked against lateraldisplacement between washer 29 and T-piece 3l fitted thereto.

A simpler modified embodiment of the cradle may be seen by referringback to Figure 6, Where 60 indicates the cradle body itself and thesupports therefor, and El the reel arbor which is mounted in the cradle.The structure of the key openings and the ends of the arbor correspondsto that shown in connection with Figure 1, the principal difference inthe instant case being that the arbor does not carry a sleeve withbearing in it, and the reel is mounted directly on the arbor.Accordingly, in the figure the arbor 6| has flats 62 and 63 (Fig. 9) onone end thereof to fit into the key opening, and at the opposite endthereof it is formed with a shoulder 6e onto which a washer 55 is pressfitted to abut against the larger diameter of the arbor. Flats 66 and 61are formed into the T-piece 68, pinned to the arbor, at this end so thatit may t the key opening 69 as indicated in Figure 7.

T-piece 68 is pinned onto the arbor at this end. The horizontal portionof the T-piece carries openings 'itl into which the spring-mounted pin'H may t when it is locked into position. The pin is carried by tensionmember 12 mounted at '13. The remainder of the structure of the cradleshows an alternative to the brake drum shown in Figures 1 and 2. Thusthe cradle has mounted at one end thereof a pair of blocks 8| and 82which carry spring pivoted shoes 33 and 84 thereon to bear against thecircumference of the reel in order to keep it down to the speed demandedby the wire being fed out and thereby avoid throwing a loop.

In Figure '7 the side elevation of the cradle shows clearly the keyopening which comprises essentially a circular opening for the arborhaving a. narrow approach thereto into which the arbor carrying theT-piece is tted. In Figs. 8 to 10 the construction of the arbor is shownmore clearly and there the arbor 6| is shown with the flats 62 and 63formed on one end and the T- piece 68 fitted on the other holding theWasher 65 against abutting shoulder 64 on the arbor. The flats formedinto the vertical section of the T-piece permit the arbor to enter thekey opening so that when a reel is loaded in the machine the arbor asshown in Figure 8 is slipped into place and the T-piece ts directly overthe support and into the key opening and is locked into place at thatpoint. The construction of the T and the adjoining washer is such thatthe arbor is locked against movement out of the key opening eithervertically or in the horizontal direction.

The relationship of the cradle to the tubular body 9i) of the strandingmachine is indicated by the dotted line in Figure 2 and in Figure 6.

Having described the invention in only a limited number of embodimentsit is understood that variations in details of construction may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

In a stranding machine, structure for locking a reel in placecomprising, in combination, supports for a reel, horizontally alignedkey openings in said supports, each opening being characterized byhaving a circular load bearing section and a narrowed entry section, acenter arbor shaft spanning said supports, said shaft having at the endsthereof flattened sections to permit it to be fitted into said keyopenings, said shaft carrying at one end thereof a T-forrn ange joinedthereto, the cross arm of said T being oriented parallel with saidflattened sections on the end of said shaft, said Iiange having meansthereon for receiving locking means for holding said shaft in a fixedposition and an additional fiange on said shaft adjacent to saidflattened sections and perpendicular to the axis of said shaft therebywith said T defining two faces in xed spaced relation.

CARL O. BRUESTLE.

References Cited in the ie of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,403,123 Leedy Jan. 10, 1922 1,615,149 Trebes Jan. 18, 19271,855,877 Blood et a1 Apr. 26, 1932

